Patrick Chan

I was thinking about Patrick's LP and just how fast he moves although it is not just all one speed. Somehow, this reminded me of two things: someone on a thread somewhere here was talking about the use of the edges to generate speed and glide and was wondering if that could be explained here relative to Patrick (because of his amazing speed and edge work); also, I was remembering commentators talk about Plushy back in his glory days and he he could accelerate out of nowhere and was wondering if he's ability is similar (skill based wise) to Patrick's. I have never seen Patrick live, but you can just see on tv even how he skates differently than most of the other men, and I did see Plushy live once (SOI or COI event, can't remember which) and it was truly astounding how quickly he moved from one end of the rink to the other.

I was also thinking about the idea of connection to music (because of stuff I'm reading on the "wrestling with scores in Icedance thread"). And felt myself wondering if there ways Patrick is connecting to the LP music in ways I hadn't noticed. I'm an uber, but have noticed that he isn't as musical or musical in an obvious way like Daisuke is, but something about this program and his movements I find very compelling and I trying to put words to it.

Throughout those years that I have been watching figure skating, I haven't seen any single skater (not including ice dancer), whether in the past or at present, that has demonstrated the same high quality of skating skills in a competitive program as Chan has. His skating alone is already exceptional, not to speak of his ability of performing quads. And one thing that has not been mentioned often concerns his continuous improvement. Take this year for example: I see great improvement in his artistic expression--body line, movement.... The word "stagnation" never goes with Chan. Have his spins improved as well? It seems to me he spins faster than he did several years ago.
He deserved winning GPF with his big margin in the short. He deserved winning TEB with his superlative transitions and skating skills light year ahead of Nan Song's. No complaints from me about his winning at all (though I argued IJS needs to be tweaked). In my eye, Chan has always been a deserving champion.

The whole thing about blade skills fascinates me. People that I associate with this are Kurt of course (like a wizard!), Chan, Michelle in a different way, Curry, and Katia Gordeyeva. John Curry studied with Gustav Lussi, a jump expert, so that he could jump from almost nothing. He wrote about being given a small patch of ice on which to practice jumps, so as to develop this skill. I'm sure that blade control has a lot to do with the finesse he eventually achieved in this area. Katia's blade control I can see for myself. She does this sort of sliding ricochet move where she seems to pivot in another direction in the middle of a glide; also, friends who have seen her skate live have remarked on her incredible speed, even now. Her footwork is also masterful, which seems to be a result of her bladework.

What skatinginbc said about Patrick's constant work to improve is something I've noticed, too. Though I have expressed frustration at the fact that so many of his jumps this year were unrefined, I can see that he's not resting on his laurels, and that gives me confidence that he'll only improve. I'm not an uber fan, but I do admire him, especially for his work ethic, and I enjoy his skating. I look forward to liking him more and more. You can see that he gives it his all, and he plainly has a lot to give.

Just out of curiosity, how does Michelle fit in with the others you mention? I never found her to skating skills up to par with the all-time legends. Certainly in her generation she was up there (along with Irina) but I don't know about being mentioned alongside Kurt or Katia.

I just wanted to say, since I've seen some people question why this thread is needed, that I think it's a great idea. For one thing, Patrick Chan is high-profile and newsworthy, and it would be a good to have a one-stop place for Chan news & updates rather than starting new threads seemingly every time he laces up his skates. In addition, because GS is a general discussion forum, most threads will have people of different views and perspectives; IMO, it's nice to have one thread where specific skaters' supporters know that the discussion will be primarily positive regarding their favorite(s), especially for skaters who tend to attract both fans and detractors of the more vocal variety. Having such a thread is not unprecedented - as Doris noted, there's the Yu-Na news thread, I also saw Akiko and Carolina fan threads, and who can forget the epic Plushenko thread from a couple of years ago? That last one didn't start out fan-focused, but eventually it became a mostly Plush-friendly place for his fans (and those of us who found it entertaining) to hang out. I hope this one will turn out like that, too.

And now, I shall follow Thumper's lead and leave the thread to its target audience...

IMO, it's nice to have one thread where specific skaters' supporters know that the discussion will be primarily positive regarding their favorite(s), especially for skaters who tend to attract both fans and detractors of the more vocal variety. Having such a thread is not unprecedented - as Doris noted, there's the Yu-Na news thread, I also saw Akiko and Carolina fan threads, and who can forget the epic Plushenko thread from a couple of years ago? That last one didn't start out fan-focused, but eventually it became a mostly Plush-friendly place for his fans (and those of us who found it entertaining) to hang out. I hope this one will turn out like that, too.

Where, where is that Plushy-friendly place????? Does such a thing exist?????

I've been a fan for several years now and saw him skate live over 2 years ago when he was injured and he impressed me then. Even though the skates that I've seen have been less than perfect (I wasn't at Nats or Worlds last year) I was really impressed by how big his actual skating is.......the speed, how he uses his whole body, and the edges. It was very evident skating back to back this year with other very well loved skaters, who although very good with the edging and movement seemed to pale in comparison. I watched with amazement as Patrick skating with his whole body bending and stretching from below the ice into the rafters and keeping up amazing speed on one foot. These are all aspects of his skating that are not evident on a TV screen. He certainly is the fastest out there.......no wonder he ran out of space in GPF.....I hope that doesn't happen again because it looked as though he landed his second jump and just ran out of space. I'm anticipating clean programs for Nats and Worlds..........I don't know if he'll be at 4Conts, anybody know?

Just out of curiosity, how does Michelle fit in with the others you mention? I never found her to skating skills up to par with the all-time legends. Certainly in her generation she was up there (along with Irina) but I don't know about being mentioned alongside Kurt or Katia.

Michelle had some of the quietest skating ever. Very effortless acceleration and marvelous use of edge. If you read the book (the title escapes me at the moment) from the American judge and 2002 Olympic Team Leader who blew the whistle to the referee after the pairs event (who got kicked out of the ISU for trying to start the WSF with Dick Button and a few others as an alternative over riding federation), he talks about judging an event when Kwan was up and coming and seeing her on practice ice. Sublime SKATER. I hear the same from one of my coaches who skated in California with Frank Carroll about the time Michelle was a Junior and moving into the Senior ranks.